Rudolf Hess's life sentence?

Article about: I know this may have been asked before, but was just curious. I know Rudolf Hess was given a life sentence for his involvement in the NSDAP and Third Reich. I know he flew to Scotland in May

For what Hess was actually convicted of, I have to say, that I always felt that to keep a big prison open and have One single prisoner in it for Years was simply wrong. I cannot think of another such case that is comparable. It must have cost millions to do this absurdity. He could have just as easily been kept in an isolation cell in a regular prison. When one thinks of the truly heinous war criminals that were convicted of bloody handed crimes and received sentences that were leagues in difference from this one, it is, indeed, hard to understand why this was felt necessary to be done. But, in any case, Hess is long since dead now, so I guess it's all a moot point.

It was our chaps (MI5) who eventually did him in at Spandau in 1987 if some stories are to be believed....

Here's his son Wolf with his body at the time, the first since 1941 when they had been alone together.

The prison was immediately demolished and a British NAAFI shopping centre and car park was built on the site. It was named 'The Britannia Centre, Spandau', although it was forever known by squaddies and their families as "Hessco's", after the well known supermarket chain of a similar name.

'I do not think we can hope for any better thing now.
We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker of course, and the end cannot be far.
It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more. R. SCOTT.
Last Entry - For God's sake look after our people.'

I'm not much of a conspiracy-theorist, but I understand that many British documents regarding Hess remain classified...
In my opinion, he was more imprisoned for "who" he was, rather than for any real crimes committed...I also wonder how the West-German government would have dealt with the international fall-out of having Hitler's Deputy living his last days as a free man in Germany...
It's somewhat like the same reason that Charles Manson will never be released...he was the leader, although not present at the murders...
cheers, Glenn

Paradoxically the level of perceived/real danger with regards to Rudolf Hess seems to only have grown instead of diminished as the years passed him by in his private prison. In the end I guess he ended up being more of a political threat to his captors than society at large and therefore there was no real way of him ever getting out alive. A strange life indeed.

Of course, what I was referring to (if you were replying to me, that is...) was the myth surrounding his name growing proportionally with all the more time spent imprisoned -- thus him becoming some kind of a mythical NSDAP martyr for the right wing /neo-nazis. On the other hand, if released it would certainly have been a very controversial matter politically, like you said.

With the way and length of time he was incarcerated in mind I think there was really no way that his captors could "come out on top" either way --- Hess was probably viewed as better off dead, sooner rather than later.